Emotional, ‘surreal’ moment: Texans’ Azeez Al-Shaair reflects on ‘grateful’journey from homeless to $54 million contract

HOUSTON – Azeez Al-Shaair was determined to try to contain his emotions Friday afternoon, but that was never going to work.

This was far too big and far too significant for Al-Shaair to not speak from the heart.

Authentic and introspective, the Texans’ hard-hitting middle linebacker and emotional leader of the top-ranked defense in the NFL wears his feelings on his sleeve. He doesn’t hold back, whether it’s delivering his trademark punishing tackles or in deep conversations. Al-Shaair provides his genuine thoughts and leaves no doubt about his convictions.

During a watershed, life-changing moment for Al-Shaair and his family as he celebrated a three-year $54 million contract extension that includes $32.5 million fully guaranteed in new money and $45.75 million total guaranteed, the Pro Bowl selection reflected on the hard moments of the past.

Growing up in Tampa, Fla., Al-Shaair and his family experienced homelessness after a fire cost them their home. Al-Shaair grabbed his seven siblings to save them. Their last semblance of stability melted down to soot and ashes.

Raised by his mother, Naadhirah Lennon, Al-Shaair and his siblings dealt with significant hardships. They moved into a budget, extended-stay motel. Al-Shaair didn’t want recruiters to know about his circumstances, so he preferred college football coaches to meet with him away from the motel, including Florida Atlantic assistant coach Nick Caley, who’s now the Texans’ offensive coordinator.

Poverty-stricken and dealing with housing issues and low on food, Al-Shaair took custody of his younger brothers while attending Florida Atlantic on a football scholarship to bring them along with him. Through it all, Al-Shaair and his family stuck together and had each others’ back. Especially his mom.

“The last person I want to thank, I saved for last because I don’t know if I’m going to cry or not and I don’t want to cry, is my mother,” Al-Shaair said Friday at Reliant Stadium while looking directly at his mom. “I wouldn’t be the man that I am if it wasn’t for you. Everything that I am, is because of you. To be a single mother of one child is tough. Two children, that’s tough. Three, four, five, we’re talking about eight children. Regardless of the outcome of the circumstances that we were in, you believed in me to play football before I believed in myself.

“I am no one, I am nothing if I don’t have you and if I didn’t have you through all those years getting me to this point. Every conversation we had. Even to this day, I have to talk to you when anything is going on in my life. You’re my best friend. You mean the world to me and I can’t repay you enough for the things you’ve done for me. Truly, truly, truly, truly, truly grateful for you and I love you.”

As much as Al-Shaair has dealt with tough times, those experiences only strengthened his resolve.

From his time as a hungry teenager to tearing his anterior cruciate ligament during his final college season, to going undrafted, to being signed by the San Francisco 49ers as a free agent on the recommendation of assistant Chris Kiffin, one of his recruiters at Florida Atlantic along with Caley and Roc Bellantoni, to learning the pro game from DeMeco Ryans, his position coach with the 49ers and a former Pro Bowl linebacker, the journey has never been easy for Al-Shaair. That’s what makes this even more satisfying for him.

It was all truly earned, never given for the Texans’ Walter Payton award winner.

“I love that, I think it inspires people,” Lemon told KPRC 2. “I hope it inspires people and gives them hope that I, too, can get through the trials I’m going through at that time.”

And that’s why Al-Shaair, a devout Muslim, delivered a strong message of gratitude. He quoted a verse from the Quran: ‘With hardship comes ease. Not before or after, but almost simultaneous.’

As Al-Shaair discussed the various trials and adversities he’s experienced, he didn’t speak about them with regret.

If anything, he was glad for what he has and what he endured.

After watching your childhood home burn to the ground, or injuring his knee as a senior and watching his draft stock plummet to, now, becoming an anchoring force as a team captain of the top-ranked defense in the NFL and a leader in the community, his rough upbringing gave him invaluable perspective and resolve.

“I’m truly, truly grateful,” said Al-Shaair while thanking Cal McNair and Hannah McNair, Ryans, defensive coordinator Matt Burke and linebackers coach Bill Davis, his longtime agent Jason Chayut of Sportstars and his extended family. “It really does feel surreal. Everything that I went through to be at this point. I wanted to be here. I didn’t want to be anywhere else. I couldn’t see myself going anywhere else.

“I’m grateful to my agent, Jason Chayut for taking a chance on me back when I was coming out of college with a torn ACL and not pretty, not the hottest linebacker you want to get. He took a chance on me and we’ve worked together now going on eight years, four different contracts later. I see you like family. My family, they’re my support system and they love me regardless of how many tackles I make or what I do. I wouldn’t be able to be here without them.”

Growing up in Tampa, Al-Shaair endured strife and it created gratitude for whatever he did have. He once gave his last $50 to a college student he felt like was in a greater need than him.

It was his grandfather, James Tokley Sr., a poet laureate who instilled wisdom and confidence in Al-Shaair and his name. Al-Shaair means ‘Son of a Poet’ in Arabic.

It was his mother who first allowed him to play football. He wanted to be a Pop Warner player. As a middle school student, he got in an Oklahoma drill. Relatively inexperienced at the time, Al-Shaair got flattened by and older, larger player.

Initially, Al-Shaair told his mother that he didn’t want to keep playing if he couldn’t be the best. She encouraged him to stick with football. She gave him the confidence to fail or succeed as long as he applied his best self to the task at hand.

“When I was growing up in Tampa, I begged her to let me play and she didn’t want me to play because she didn’t want to see me get hurt,” Al-Shaair said. “We were staying in a motel at the time, ‘I promise you, if you let me play football I’m going to make it to the NFL, I’ll take care of our family one day.’

“I had no clue if I was ever actually going to be able to do it or not. I never saw it done. I didn’t think stuff like that happened to people like me, in my life and my situation. So, to sit here years and years later, to be actually living that out is absolutely amazing. All praise to Allah. It’s nothing but God’s mercy and God’s grace that I’m ever here and able to say that.”

The contract isn’t only about money and the value that Al-Shaair provides in the locker room.

It’s a display of respect, just like the fact that Cal McNair and Hannah McNair and their son, Calhoun, attended the press conference and posed for photos with Al-Shaair and his mother, along with defensive coordinator Matt Burke and teammate Jamal Hill.

“I just wanted to be myself: be authentically me,” Al-Shaair said. “Obviously, as a football player on the field I try to show the abilities that I have to be a tone-setter. Get guys organized, lined up, communication, all those different things. Off the field, just connecting with the guys, understanding that the relationships that you build, it makes you push a lot harder when you are doing it for your brothers.

“Truthfully, I just wanted to be authentically myself and I always felt like if I got the opportunity to be at a place and show everybody who I was, then things would go well for the team and myself. I’m grateful for that.”

An $18 million average per year compensation boost from 12th in linebacker average per year compensation to third in the NFL behind the San Francisco 49ers’ Fred Warner ($21 million) and the Baltimore Ravens’ Roquan Smith ($20 million). Previously, Al-Shaair was at $11.3 million in terms of average per year.

Texans general manager Nick Caserio and Chayut worked on this contract for three months.

The deal includes $35.25 million fully guaranteed for skill, injury and salary cap in terms of new money and $45.75 million total guaranteed.

After recording a team-high 103 tackles, a career-high two interceptions and a career-high nine passes defensed, Al-Shaair isn’t resting on his laurels. He wants to keep improving and he wants the Texans to get even better on defense and as a team after three consecutive AFC divisional round defeats.

And, yes, he still has a motivational chip on his shoulder as a former overlooked rookie free agent.

“Truthfully, I carry it with me every day,” Al-Shaair said. “I think that it’s just a part of who I am. I think it’s a part of my life. Me, my story in the NFL, I think is a reflection of my story throughout my life. Going through different hardships, having all the weight of the world on your shoulders, feeling like, ‘Man, like there’s no way you’re going to make it out of this situation.’

“Somebody like Chris, he was assistant defensive line coach at the time, it’s like you getting up there talking about a linebacker from Florida Atlantic with a torn ACL talking about you promise he’s going to make the team. You’re almost putting your own job on jeopardy for me. So that type of just character from people who cared about me to speak on my behalf like that. I have a million people that have done that for me, so I’m just grateful.”

The deal for Al-Shaair follows other big deals for defensive standouts Will Anderson Jr. (three years, $150 million extension as the highest paid non-quarterback in NFL history) and Danielle Hunter (one-year, $40.1 million guaranteed extension).

“You start with the person, a theme of these contracts we’ve been giving out as an organization to reward the type of people we want to represent the team and this building,” Burke said. “He’s probably at the forefront of all that. Just an unbelievable human being. You see there’s ownership here, there’s players here, there’s offensive coaches, defensive coaches, community relations people, the people he connects with in the building is really impressive. It always starts with the person.”

True to form, Al-Shaair was working out at Reliant Stadium as a fixture in the Texans’ offseason workout program when he got the good news from his agent.

He was late for Davis’ position meeting because the deal was being finalized.

“Billy is my guy, but I get in the meeting and he’s like, ‘Oh man, oh man, what are you coming in late for?’” Al-Shaair said. “He’s just giving me a hard time. I’m just cheesing the whole time. I’m not even listening to half the stuff he’s saying, I’m just like, ‘Uh huh. Uh huh.’ I’m just smiling. I just couldn’t stop smiling.

“I tried to call my mom, she was asleep. By the time I got to talk to everybody and everythig, it didn’t feel real, truthfully, until today. There’s no way it’s real. I did sign it, so it is official. If something happens to me now, take care of my mama for me. That’s where I was at.”

Al-Shaair drew heavy criticism for a concussion-causing hit on a late sliding Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence a year ago and served an NFL suspension. He and the Texans took exception to the language in a disciplinary letter from NFL executive Jon Runyan and defended his character. During that time, Al-Shaair was open and forthright about his emotions as he revealed that he was in a dark place at that time and briefly contemplated walking away from the game.

The attacks on his character and being called a dirty player, or racist and anti-Muslim remarks on his social media pages, yes, it bothered him greatly.

And the Texans, especially a fired-up Caserio, stuck up for Al-Shaair and defended him passionately.

“When I reflect back to that time, it was a really challenging time in my life just trying to navigate through how I could be in a situation where people are attacking me as a man, my character for something that I did on the football field that happens in a split-second,” Al-Shaair said. “People get into car accidents and it’s like, ‘You’re at fault, it happened so fast.’ When all that stuff went down, to see the way people were talking about me as a person and as a player, it hurt because I just felt like everything kind of came crumbling down and it wasn’t a reflection of who I see myself as or who I try to be.

“I was truly broken. My heart was broken; my mother could tell you. Everybody who is here that I interacted with could tell you, I was in an extremely, extremely low, dark place. I was dealing with all the off-the-field stuff and the stuff with the Trevor Lawrence stuff and the suspension and all of it, and people pretty much going for my character. I really leaned in on all these other people who did more than their job required them to do to try to make sure I was in a good place mentally. I’m so just grateful.”

Al-Shaair has built a special relationship with the McNair family and their son, Calhoun.

He’ll never forget how they stood behind him during the Lawrence controversy.

“This family has been like my own family,” Al-Shaair said. “I always tell them, ‘You didn’t have to put yourself in front of a speeding bullet for me.’ I feel like the way that they had my back and every chance that they had to speak on my behalf, speak to my character, every time they saw me just pouring into me, trying to make sure I was doing well. Cal told me his father told him, ‘You can never go wrong doing what’s right.’

“That’s something that I think I’ll probably keep with me for the rest of my life. There was countless conversations that I had with them that just reassured me as a person because obviously there’s a business side to this and then there’s a personal side.I’m just grateful that I’m here and I have the relationship that I have with them. Calhoun, [Cal McNair’s] son, I tell him he’s like my nephew.”

Al-Shaair, named the Texans’ annual Media Good Guy award winner last season, is willing to delve into a variety of topics, including his Muslim faith and wide-ranging philanthropy, along with football strategy, offering a window into the game.

It’s a two-way street of mutual respect and understanding.

“I appreciate you guys,” Al-Shaair said. “I think everybody has a job to do. Every time I talk to you guys, I’m trying to do my job to the best of my ability. You’re dedicated to what you gotta do equally as I’m dedicated to what I do. And I think you understand, this is a profession that we all take serious. Everybody has their aspirations and what they’re trying to accomplish.”

“For me given as much of the insight as I can give, being around you guys all the time, knowing the personalities, knowing the different stories that you guys have written, how far you guys have come individually in your own journeys to get here, it’s no different than me as a player. It’s not that hard. I’m definitely grateful for you guys giving me this. I appreciate the work that you guys do for us as well.”

When Anderson got his blockbuster deal, no one was happier for him than Al-Shaair.

They’ve bonded over faith and their love for football.

“He truly is like a little brother to me,” Al-Shaair said. “Truthfully, he is a great human being and I think that is the biggest thing for me. I value character more than I value abilities. I will talk to the janitor for 45 minutes or I will talk to Hannah or Cal for 45 minutes. I value the character. I am so grateful that I have him in my corner because the way we lean in on each other, especially throughout the season when we are kind of having our own moments of rough patches.

“People look to us for leadership so it is hard because you feel like you can’t show that you are going through something all the time because everybody else on the team is looking to you for that inspiration. We actually lean in a lot on each other to kind of be that therapist for each other to make sure like, ‘Hey, are you good?’”

That’s who Al-Shaair is, in a nutshell.

He thinks about other people, including Palestinian children affected by the conflict in Gaza. He regularly hosts child amputees receiving medical treatment in Houston at football games. He advocates for victims through the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund and My Cause, My Cleats. He uses his platform to highlight the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, stating that being Muslim drives his view that all people should be seen equally. He was fined by the NFL in January for wearing a ‘Stop the Genocide’ message on his eye back during a playoff game.

“One thing that I also love from me being Muslim, what you learn is that in Islam, there’s no person, all you guys in this building right now, nobody’s better than the next person in here,” Al-Shaair said. “I’m no better than anybody else because of how much money I’m getting, because of what career I have, vice versa. The only thing that you’re judged on is the intention in your heart.

“I think that’s what I try to do. Be really insightful, be really detailed on how I’m interacting with people and be authentic. I think that’s the biggest thing because at the end of the day, we’re all human.”

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com